Players not being played - why not?!

[sumofallparts]

Stockdale - a complete no-brainer to stick him in for a decent run or 3-6 games.

Briggs - JAR seems a bit slow. MB has never quite stepped up 100% but has heart and will try. We need players who want to play badly.

Kasami - see above.

Petric - I would rather play him with Berba in 4-4-2 than 4-5-1 with Berba alone and then introduce Dave. Petric has delivered for us.

Trotta - surely we must give Del a try at some point?


Anyway - just my thoughts - we have a lacklustre team at the moment. With no Ruiz, Diarra and Duff we are painful, slow, lack heart, spirit, desire - so why not bring a few young guns in to see how they get on?

[Snibbo]

To be fair he's given Kaca, Frei (and Richardson) more than a fair chance, and they've given a pretty mixed response.

Briggs has never convinced - looks skilful going forward but lacking defensively.

Petric has had several chances, and mostly taken them - its a question of whether or not he complements Berbatov - it seems not.

Stockdale I think deserves a chance. His distribution at least is superior to Schwarzer's, which would take a lot of pressure off.

Trotta? Who knows. They see him in training and reserve matches, so assume he's just not shown enough.

[sumofallparts]

Snibbo - fair comments. But something has to be tried or done? I dont mind losing where the boys have ran their legs off and look like they WANT to win. New blood might do that. The last few insipid performances have made me wonder why - especially Stockdale and Kasami - can't get a few games.

[MOR :]

Surely Stockdale, Petric and Kasami should be given 90 mins against Southampton...I'm seriously starting to worry about our season.

We need a minimum of 4 points from the Southampton & Swansea games. But I'd take 6...

[Jack Fulham]

always a bit of a problem with Petric, Rodallega and Berbatov. Berbatov is the superior player, Rodallega works the hardest and Petric is most likely to score a goal. Who do you play??

Briggs, he's not great although Riise has been really poor recently, it would be like swapping one clanger for another.

Stockdale, would be nice but doesn't look like its gonna happen for him at Fulham. Especially as it looks as though we're getting this guy in from Belgium in jan.

Trotta, let him ply his trade a bit more at Brentford a while longer.

Kasami, same situation as Stockdale really, not getting a chance.

You can look at all these guys and think it might help but the fundamental problem is we don't have a player that can link our defence with the attack usually, its Ruiz but he's out. Maybe Kasami could solve that but I doubt it.

[sumofallparts]

"Maybe Kasami could solve that but I doubt it."

Jol could try !!!!!!!!! Could it be any worse? Ditto Stockdale, Briggs, Del in for Dave?

[Fulham_Surrey]

Disagree. Berba is being played as midfielder and that is a mistake.  If he is on top of the attack, he is mostly like to score a goal. 

[sunburywhite]

Kasami cant be any worse than Richardson

[JackyFulham90]

I would like to see Kasami & Stockdale become regulars for us, Briggs has never convinced but maybe he will get a chance as Riise is on the decline, Petric is a brilliant player unfortunately for him Berbatov & Ruiz are better

[A Humble Man]

Petric is not fit so will not play.  Ruiz might play which could make a much bigger difference than trying kids the manager thinks are not good enough.

[A Humble Man]

Martin Jol sprung a pleasant surprise in his pre-match press conference on Monday afternoon when he revealed that Bryan Ruiz is in contention to face Southampton on Boxing Day (3pm).

"The team news is that Bryan Ruiz is joining us on Christmas Day," Jol told the gathered media. "We will make an assessment in the training session and then, hopefully, he could join us for Southampton. If not, he will be available for the next match against Swansea City.

"There's a 50:50 chance that he will be fit for selection on Wednesday. But he was doing a good test on Monday morning with the physios and the Head of Medical and on Tuesday he will join us in a collective session. We will see how much progress he has made and whether or not he can join us.

"Another decision would be whether I start him or if he plays a role in the second half but, first, we have to make the decision on whether he can join us and if he's fit for selection.

"The other news is that Mladen Petrić is out with injury – hopefully he will be fit within a week but, if not, we struggle a bit in the spine [of the Team]. Mahamadou Diarra is an important player too and we will make an assessment on him on Tuesday, but I don't think he will have a chance to be involved [against Southampton]. Hopefully he can be involved against Swansea. Damien Duff is another one who is going to miss out as he's got a calf strain."

The last two Fulham performances have been lacklustre to say the least and Jol admits that a drastic improvement in form is urgently needed.

"We've had one win in the last 10 and that is not good enough," he said. "We have to come up with something and be more organised, play better football and, hopefully, we will get some players back who can do that.

"If every player is on the board then I don't think there is a big problem but we've struggled a bit with injuries in the first half of the season. We would like to have somebody, for example, for Bryan if he is not there. We tried that with [Dimitar] Berbatov and he was good sometimes but sometimes it worked against us because you need Berbatov up front.

"Of course, we are disappointed and the only thing we can do is keep the spirit up, try to be positive and tell the players that they are capable of winning games. We know that other players like Bryan and Diarra are important to us but, even when they are not there, we should pick up results."

He continued: "There are still two games to come [this year] and if we can have a couple of results there we'll probably finish with a decent amount of points and that's half the points we would like to have – that is 50 points.

"But if we do the same as we did over the last six weeks, we won't have our 50 points – that is clear. So, of course, you need your players but we also need our spirit and the players who can make the difference.

"Of course, we wanted to get back on track against Queens Park Rangers but I don't think we were good enough and against Liverpool we didn't show our strengths but, hopefully, we can pick up the points against Southampton because it's a vital game for us and a vital game for them as well.

"We are in a good position and we've got a good cushion but if you don't pick up the points in the next week or so then we are really in a relegation battle with other teams."

Wednesday's game at Craven Cottage has become hugely important following our recent run and, while the bookmakers will make the Whites favourites in the festive fixture, Jol cautions that there are no easy matches in this division.

"It's a thin line between winning and losing games, especially in this league," he said. "Sometimes Southampton show that they can have the results and sometimes they show their weaknesses – like we did and like other teams did.

"Take Aston Villa, for example; at the weekend they lost 8-0 and the week before they were beating Liverpool 3-1 away from home. So that is the Barclays Premier League for you. It's an unbelievably strong league and you have to be strong in your organisation and you need your players who can make the difference.

"The difference between us and Southampton was that we had a good start so now we're on 20 points. They struggled for the first part but you saw Norwich City, for example; they picked up big time and they've got enough points now.

"But there are a lot of teams on 23, 25 points so there is not a big difference, but in the Premier League you have to pick up your points at the right moments and if we do that we'll get the points we need to stay in the league.

"That is what we want and that is our first priority – to get points on the board and then there are enough games and enough points to gain to be in a good position."

[Riversider]

Sorry but Stockdale is s##t, don't take my opinion for it take the opinion of all the Fulham managers that have presided over him, not one of them has been prepared to give him a chance, a decent shot stopper but doesn't command his area at all , stays glued to his line and doesn't come for anything , when he leaves Fulham his days in The Premier League are over.
As for Briggs, I wouldn't let him anywhere near the left back position as he can't defend to save his life, but wouldn't mind seeing him in left midfield,
As for Trotta, I have a feeling that we will see Tankovic, Woodrow and Dembele in a Fulham shirt before we see him.
Sadly our salvation will come in January and not from anybody currently on our payroll.

[Edwatch_Winston_Malone]

It is not rocket science - Generally it is because the manager doesn't believe that they are as good as the players that he is selecting...

[DiegoFulham]

Briggs has never convinced - looks skilful going forward but lacking defensively.

bit like Bale when he was poo? anyone else believe it would be interesting to slowly try Briggs on the right r left of midfield? 

[HatterDon]

Martin Jol sprung a pleasant surprise in his pre-match press conference on Monday afternoon when he revealed that Bryan Ruiz is in contention to face Southampton on Boxing Day (3pm).

"The team news is that Bryan Ruiz is joining us on Christmas Day," Jol told the gathered media. "We will make an assessment in the training session and then, hopefully, he could join us for Southampton. If not, he will be available for the next match against Swansea City.

"There's a 50:50 chance that he will be fit for selection on Wednesday. But he was doing a good test on Monday morning with the physios and the Head of Medical and on Tuesday he will join us in a collective session. We will see how much progress he has made and whether or not he can join us.

"Another decision would be whether I start him or if he plays a role in the second half but, first, we have to make the decision on whether he can join us and if he's fit for selection.

"The other news is that Mladen Petrić is out with injury – hopefully he will be fit within a week but, if not, we struggle a bit in the spine [of the Team]. Mahamadou Diarra is an important player too and we will make an assessment on him on Tuesday, but I don't think he will have a chance to be involved [against Southampton]. Hopefully he can be involved against Swansea. Damien Duff is another one who is going to miss out as he's got a calf strain."

The last two Fulham performances have been lacklustre to say the least and Jol admits that a drastic improvement in form is urgently needed.

"We've had one win in the last 10 and that is not good enough," he said. "We have to come up with something and be more organised, play better football and, hopefully, we will get some players back who can do that.

"If every player is on the board then I don't think there is a big problem but we've struggled a bit with injuries in the first half of the season. We would like to have somebody, for example, for Bryan if he is not there. We tried that with [Dimitar] Berbatov and he was good sometimes but sometimes it worked against us because you need Berbatov up front.

"Of course, we are disappointed and the only thing we can do is keep the spirit up, try to be positive and tell the players that they are capable of winning games. We know that other players like Bryan and Diarra are important to us but, even when they are not there, we should pick up results."

He continued: "There are still two games to come [this year] and if we can have a couple of results there we'll probably finish with a decent amount of points and that's half the points we would like to have – that is 50 points.

"But if we do the same as we did over the last six weeks, we won't have our 50 points – that is clear. So, of course, you need your players but we also need our spirit and the players who can make the difference.

"Of course, we wanted to get back on track against Queens Park Rangers but I don't think we were good enough and against Liverpool we didn't show our strengths but, hopefully, we can pick up the points against Southampton because it's a vital game for us and a vital game for them as well.

"We are in a good position and we've got a good cushion but if you don't pick up the points in the next week or so then we are really in a relegation battle with other teams."

Wednesday's game at Craven Cottage has become hugely important following our recent run and, while the bookmakers will make the Whites favourites in the festive fixture, Jol cautions that there are no easy matches in this division.

"It's a thin line between winning and losing games, especially in this league," he said. "Sometimes Southampton show that they can have the results and sometimes they show their weaknesses – like we did and like other teams did.

"Take Aston Villa, for example; at the weekend they lost 8-0 and the week before they were beating Liverpool 3-1 away from home. So that is the Barclays Premier League for you. It's an unbelievably strong league and you have to be strong in your organisation and you need your players who can make the difference.

"The difference between us and Southampton was that we had a good start so now we're on 20 points. They struggled for the first part but you saw Norwich City, for example; they picked up big time and they've got enough points now.

"But there are a lot of teams on 23, 25 points so there is not a big difference, but in the Premier League you have to pick up your points at the right moments and if we do that we'll get the points we need to stay in the league.

"That is what we want and that is our first priority – to get points on the board and then there are enough games and enough points to gain to be in a good position."

CARTHAGE MUST BE DESTROYED!!!!